Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol
Zero-Based News
Part Fifteen
Numbers and statistics are utilized in a variety of ways by media organizations as they report news.
Some media organizations will use numbers and statistics together to present news that is accurate and factual as well as truthful. Other media organizations use one or the other, but not both, in detailing accurate and factual information that may or may not be truthful. Still other media organizations use both numbers and statistics, but use different situations to present accurate and factual information that may or may not be truthful.
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Consider the following possible example where numbers and statistics that are accurate and factual are used together to present a truthful view of the labor market.
Possible Example #1:
"The United States Department of Labor released a report today that indicated there were an estimated 156,000,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the United States as of April 30, 2025. A month earlier, as of March 31, 2025, there were an estimated 155,766,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the country. The number of jobs included an estimate of all full-time jobs as well as an estimate of all part-time jobs converted as if they were full-time jobs. Two part-time jobs that together total 40 hours weekly were counted together as one full-time job."
"This report detailed that 234,000 new full-time equivalent jobs were estimated to have been created last month, April of 2025, in the United States. This number represented an increase of 0.15% from the number of jobs from the previous month, March of 2025. The 0.0015 increase in jobs month-over-month from March to April of 2025 compares to the 0.0014 increase in jobs month-over-month from March to April of 2024. In April of 2024, 215,600 new full-time equivalent jobs were estimated to have been created. The number of full-time equivalent jobs was estimated to be 154,000,000 as of April 30, 2024."
Now consider the following possible examples where the same numbers and statistics – numbers and statistics that are accurate and factual – are used in ways that present only part of the news.
Possible Example #2:
"The United States Department of Labor released a report today that indicated that job growth was less than 1% from March to April. Only 234,000 new jobs were estimated to have been created in April of 2025."
Possible Example #3:
"Job growth last month was estimated to have only increased 0.0001 points from the same time period last year. An estimated 234,000 new jobs were estimated to have been created in April of 2025."
Possible Example #4:
"The United States Department of Labor reported today that there was a substantial increase in the number of jobs created in April of 2025 as compared to the number of jobs created in the same month in 2024. An estimated 234,000 new jobs were estimated to have been created in April this year; in 2024, the estimated increase in jobs was only 215,600 jobs."
Possible Example #5:
"Job growth was impressive in April of 2025, according to a report issued by the United States Department of Labor. The increase in job growth was more than 8.5% from April of 2024 to April of 2025. An estimated 234,000 new jobs were estimated to have been created in April this year. This compares to an estimated increase in jobs of 215,600 jobs in April of 2024."
While all of the numbers and statistics used in these four examples (Examples #2 through #5) are accurate and factual, those numbers and statistics are used in ways that don't provide a full picture – a truthful view – of job creations.
These examples highlight how the news can be accurate and factual, but not necessarily truthful.
The next news column in this series will focus on how anonymous sources are utilized in reporting news.
Peirspictiochtai Ar A Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.
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